Hello Hong Kong

The great thing about traveling is that there is no plan.  After leaving Indonesia I really didn’t know where I was headed to next.  One of the main factors in determining my next stop was the price of airline flights.  Being in Southeast Asia flights are relatively cheap but since Bali is a hot destination in July and August flying from there to anywhere is expensive.  Since I had quite a few airline miles on Cathay Pacific (based out of Hong Kong) I was able to book a “free” flight from Bali to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong to Cebu, Philippines.  All of this for under 35,000 miles. 

Hong Kong Skyline

Since I had never explored Hong Kong before I decided to spend a few days there.  I knew that Hong Kong was going to be expensive and after talking with friends who have stayed in Hong Kong I realized that my best bet for a cheap room was to stay in the Chungking Mansion.  

Chungking Mansion

Chungking Mansion is a 17-story building in downtown Hong Kong that is well known as having the cheapest accommodation around. It is made up of five towering concrete blocks and even though the building is supposedly residential, it is has over 80 guesthouses, shops, restaurants, and other services.

Chungking Mansion

I was a little nervous to stay here since I had received an email from the guesthouse I was to stay at warning me that when I got to the Chungking Mansion there would be a crowd of Indian men outside the building trying to persuade me into seeing their “quality” guesthouse.  I was told to push past these men and take the first elevator up to the 12^th floor and there I would find the New Peking Guesthouse.  

Entrance to my guesthouse

Luckily I was staying in Block A so the elevator was near the entrance to the building.  If I was staying in Block E I would have had to walk for what seemed like miles (when you’re fighting off Indian salesmen) to get to the elevator.

There are 2 elevators per block and one goes to the even floors and the other to the odd.  The elevators are tiny and you can cram about 8 people in them.  There are always long lines to get onto the elevator and if too many people try to cram into the elevator and the weight limit has been reached, an alarm will sound and the doors will not shut until someone reluctantly gets off.  Since there are 17 floors you spend a lot of time waiting for the elevator.  I came to dread taking the elevator and unfortunately I was on the 12^th floor and with 90 degree heat I was not so inclined to take the stairs.

The room I stayed in was $30 a night and was similar to a jail cell.  There was just enough room for a bed - I could touch all four walls when lying on the bed.  And the bathroom was nothing more than the tiniest sink I have ever seen and a toilet. 

My tiny room

The view from my room was the backside of Block B and mountains of trash down below.  I do have to say that is was very clean and there were several amenities like TV, aircon, towels, blankets, soap, WiFi.

View from my room

Many of the people staying in the building are laborers from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, and parts of Africa.  Needless to say that riding the elevators and staying in Chungking Mansion you meet some very interesting characters.  

Back to Bali, Indonesia

After several days on Lombok I decided it was time to leave this paradise and head back to Bali.  A public ferry makes the crossing over to Bali in about 3 hours so I jumped on that since it cost me only about $4.00.   

I arrived to the port of Padang Bai on Bali and took a minivan heading to Kuta.  Even though Kuta, one of the main touristy areas in Bali, is so overcrowded with tourists in July and August, it’s still a great place to use for exploring other areas.  I arrived to Kuta around 8pm and I figured that the hotel I had stayed at before would have room available but sadly on this night they were full.  Luckily I met this couple from the Czech Republic on the street also searching for a room and after going to well over 20 hotels (although I would not call them hotels by our standards) and hearing that all were FULL we finally found 1 room and ended up sharing - all 3 of us!  I’m starting to really hate the word “full”!

Every country I’ve traveled to is a little different when it comes to basic accommodation but here in Indonesia basic accommodation means that you pay around $10-15 for a private room/bathroom, surprisingly there are very few hostels (dorm rooms) here which are ideal since they are typically much cheaper ($5/night) and it’s easier to meet other travelers.   

Most places I stay in only have bottom sheets that may or may not have been washed, toilets with no toilet paper and sometimes no toilet bowl just a hole in the ground, sometimes no sink, cold water showers or sometimes only a bucket with a plastic scoop for your shower, if you're lucky an oscillating fan otherwise just a ceiling fan, and no towels so I’ve gotten into the habit of using my sarong as a towel and also as a top bed sheet.

The problem with traveling so much is that I rarely stay in one hotel long enough to have my clothes washed and dried.  Most of the washing is done by hand and then hung on a line to dry so you need at least 2 days in one place for that to happen.  I’ve gotten use to constantly wearing dirty clothes.  It might sound horrible but I find that you adjust quickly.

On Land in Lombok, Indonesia

The boat arrived to Lombok and I was surprised to see that instead of taxi’s they use “horsepower” as a means for getting around.

Very typical to see horse "taxi's" on Lombok

We ended up staying in the touristy town of Senggigi on the west coast of Lombok and decided to spend the night in a somewhat nice hotel to recoup from not getting much sleep the previous 3 nights on the boat. Senggigi was a really beautiful place and since John had been there on previous trips he suggested that we all meet that evening at the Sheraton for a drink and a dip in what John deemed “the best pool he’s ever been in”. It was a great way to end our amazing and unforgettable journey.

Sunset from the Sheraton's pool

Boat crew enjoying a drink at the Sheraton

The following day John’s travels with me ended and he returned to the US. I stayed in Senggigi and along with 2 other people from the boat, hired a car with driver to take us around the island. The driver took us to some amazing waterfalls at the base of Mt. Rinjani, Lombok’s volcano.

Amazing waterfall (notice how tiny the people are)

After swimming in the waterfall we stopped off at a local village. There were about 20 families living in this village and soon we were surrounded by villagers asking for cigarettes. In Indonesia it seems that practically everyone smokes. I was really shocked when a boy of about 8 years old asked for a cigarette and actually started smoking it.

Visiting one of the local villages

Very disturbing to see such a young kid smoking!

The 4-day / 3-night Adventure

Since we had taken the “easy” way and flown to Flores we decided to see if there might be another way back to Bali.  Sure enough… there was a boat departing Flores and heading for Lombok, the island next to Bali.  I had heard great things about Lombok anyway so it was perfect.  

It was to be a 4 day/3 night journey with stops along the way to hunt the komodo dragons, snorkel with the manta rays, and visit local waterfalls.  It sounded like a dream!  Before signing up for this adventure we asked the owner of the company to show us the boat we would be going on.  Turns out that the boat was just arriving from Lombok so we were able to not only see the boat but also talk to the people who had just “survived” the trip. 

The boat looked like it would definitely be an interesting experience and most of the comments from the passengers were really positive, and the only negative thing they had to say was that the first 2 nights the seas were really rocky and it was hard to sleep.  Being sailors ourselves, John and I figured we’d have no problem plus the owner assured us that even though 20+ people had just gotten off this boat that he only likes to put 8-12 people onboard otherwise it’s too crowded.

In the morning we arrived to the boat and realized that there were 16 of us total.  So much for only having 8-12 people.  Plus the boat was slightly different than the one we had seen the previous day.  It was a basic cargo boat with a covered upstairs area for sleeping and a big covered deck but with no place to sit other than the floor. 

Home for the next 4 days/ 3 nights

John took one look at the boat and decided that he wasn’t going to sit on the floor for 4 days and marched back to the office and arranged that he would sail to our first stop on Rinca Island in order to see the komodo dragons, stay the night there in what they call “basic accommodation”, and then jump on another boat heading back to Labuanbajo and fly to Bali.  I figured it would be a little uncomfortable but it would be an experience not to be forgotten and that’s why I travel.

We departed the harbor and stopped off at some remote island to pick up 2 additional passengers.  As we approached the island we ended up hitting the coral reef!  Out came the long bamboo poles to try and dislodge us from the coral reef.

Stuck on the coral reef!!!

We stopped off at Rinca Island and also Komodo Island to see the komodo dragons.  We hiked with guides carrying sticks in case a komodo dragon should try and attack us.  The komodo dragon bites its prey and the bacteria in its saliva is what eventually kills the prey.  It’s a slow process and can be anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks before the prey actually dies but the komodo dragon will follow the prey until that happens and then eat it.  On Rinca Island, John’s “basic accommodation” consisted of a small room on stilts with 2 komodo dragons under it.  He decided at that point that the boat was a much better option and decided to continue on with us.

Hunting the komodo dragon!

A komodo dragon!

A komodo dragon getting ready to attack its prey!

Back on the boat mealtime came and a blanket was spread on the floor, the food placed in the middle, and we sat all around.  It was like a feeding frenzy!  There was never enough food and if you were late to eat most likely you were only eating rice.  Never once were they any leftovers and we always left still feeling a little hungry.

Mealtime 
Our favorite time of the day since we were starving!

Nighttime came and we were given mattresses, blankets and pillows.  The mattresses were about ¼ inch thick and smelled of mildew or worse and the blankets were made for someone 5 feet tall and probably had never been washed since you could see the dirt and feel the sticky salt on them.  It did not make a pleasant sleeping experience.  Since there were so many people on the boat some slept upstairs in the covered sleeping area and others slept on the deck.  The problem with sleeping on the deck was that the spray from the waves would completely soak you - as John found out.

Upstairs sleeping area

Sleeping on the deck

During the daytime we had opportunities to swim and snorkel.  Living with salt water on our bodies became the way of life since the only fresh water we had on-board was in 2 small containers to be used sparingly.  On the 3^rd day stopped at a fresh water waterfall giving us the opportunity to actually clean up a little. But afterwards we had to swim from shore to the boat so that clean feeling was short-lived. 

Enjoying the "fresh water" waterfall

In Search of the Komodo Dragon - Flores, Indonesia

The purpose of heading Labuanbajo on the island of Flores was to visit Komodo Island National Park.  I had heard from friends that this area has some world class diving and that the deadly komodo dragons are only found in this part of the world. 

We ended up flying to Labuanbajo from Bali and as we walked out of the airport we were surrounded by a swarm of Indonesians offering transportation into town.  Feeling a bit overwhelmed we decided to stick with a guy who promised free transportation if we went to his hotel.  Since we had no plans of where we would stay we decided to check it out.  It turned out to be just what we were looking for and had the most amazing view of the bay.   Lucky for us that of all the people getting off the plane he happened to grab us because later we found out that all the other hotels in town were FULL! 

View from out hotel at Golo Hilltop in Labuanbajo

We ended up spending 5 nights in Labuanbajo, moving hotels almost every other night due to them being full, and other than diving there was not much to do in town.  The diving is probably some of the more dangerous diving in the world due to the quickly changing and strong currents but luckily we had great dive masters who know what they were doing and what to look out for.

Dock in destruction in Labuanbajo

Most days were spent diving and since the dive sites were about 2-3 hours by boat the days were long, leaving just after sunrise and coming back just after sunset.  Most nights were spent drinking the local “Bintang” beer or local palm wine “Arak” and beating John at rummy.  

One of the many amazing sunsets on Labuanbajo

Hello Indonesia

Indonesia is a sprawling and intriguing country. Located at the equator, it consists of over 13,000 islands, encompassing 3 time zones, of which close to 250 million people call home. Indonesia has some of the world’s best surfing, scuba diving, and rainforests. But it is also very susceptible to disasters. Indonesia has well over 129 volcanoes and experiences its fair share of earthquakes. The most notable earthquake was the one in 2004 causing the tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in many countries.

Rice terraces in Bali

I decided to start my journey of Indonesia on the island of Bali since I had heard such great things about it from many people. My friend John from Santa Barbara had decided to travel with me for a few weeks and since he had been to Bali many times before he was a perfect tour guide.

Local fishing boat in Bali

I knew before arriving that July and August were the high season in Bali since everyone tends to be on vacation (or on “holiday” as everyone calls it) but I never realized just how bad it was going to be. High season means that the prices are double what they normally are and that hotels are hard to come by unless you have booked in advance.

Upon arrival to Bali we headed to Kuta which is a beach town close to the airport and also the most heavily populated area of tourists – in a way it reminded me of Cancun during spring break. Lucky for us we found a hotel and John rented a car so that we could escape the tourists and explore other parts of the island the following day.

It was only $11/day to rent a car and once we saw the car we realized why it was so cheap. The car was barely drivable and it took three cars before we finally felt we’d be somewhat safe driving. The first stop after getting the car was the gas station since they had only left us just enough fuel to make it there. John had warned me that the people in Indonesia won’t steal from you but they will try and cheat you out of money at every chance they get. Sure enough… We asked the gas attendant to give us 100,000Rp worth of fuel. By not watching him carefully he had left the meter running from his last customer and continued to fill our tank up. We figure that we probably got about 50,000Rp worth of fuel and he pocketed the other 50,000Rp.

Bali roads are extremely tiny and because there are so many people driving cars and motorbikes it makes driving (or just riding as a passenger) very nerve wrecking. To get from our hotel to the main road we had to go down an alley that was just as wide as the car (with our mirrors pulled in) and at the same time try and dodge all the people and motorbikes coming at us. There were several times where I just had to shut my eyes to calm my nerves.

Driving down one of the many tiny alleys

One night we were high in the mountains in search of a hotel. We had been following the signs to the only hotel in town and before long the road started to get smaller and smaller. At one point the road was as wide as the car. On one side there was a ditch and on the other side a sheer cliff drop-off and part of the road had broken away. Both John and I felt very unsure about crossing this piece of road but there was no way for us to backup so we had to go forward. As we were crossing I remember thinking that this could be the end of me but fortunately we made it across.

Bali is different than most of Indonesia in that the majority of the people in Bali are Hindu whereas the rest of Indonesia is Muslim. While driving through Bali we stopped at several Hindu Temples. In order to enter the temples both men and women had to wear sarongs around their waists (which could be rented at most temples) and posted signs indicated that women who were menstruating were NOT allowed to enter.

One of the many Hindu temples we visited

One of the more scenic temples is that of Uluwatu. But the monkeys there are notorious for being vicious and taking your sunglasses, hat, and camera. We made sure to leave all those items in the car and walked with a stick to ward off any monkey attacks.

Uluwatu temple

Uluwatu is also known as a great surf spot. John and I spent an afternoon drinking beer and watching the surfers tackle these big waves.

On the way to watch the surfers at Uluwatu

Surfing the waves at Uluwatu

Since learning to drink coffee in Guatemala (aka lukewarm watered down instant coffee with lots of sugar) I have never been too particular about drinking good coffee but Bali Coffee is in a league all its own. They take powdered coffee, add water, and serve it to you. The powder does not dissolve and after you finish your cup you are left with what I call “sludge” at the bottom. It takes a while to get used to this but it does grow on you. Still what I wouldn’t give for some “real” Indonesian coffee – all of which unfortunately is export

Travels through Vietnam

Of all the times to visit Vietnam I think I picked the hottest time of the year. When I got off the plane in Hanoi (northern Vietnam) it was a steamy 95 degrees with 95% humidity. You could not even walk 2 minutes without breaking a sweat. Ironically, the further south I went the less hot is was. You’d think that the closer you got to the equator the hotter it would be but that was not the case.

Supposedly rainy season starts in July but luckily there were only a few times that it rained and oddly it was always when I landed in a new city. Vietnam is a very LONG country and to get from one end to the other takes over 30 hours by bus/train.

Map of Vietnam highlighting the places visited

Luckily there are cheap in-country flights ($40/one-way) so most of my travel was by plane. Even flights to other countries from Vietnam are cheap. I was able to score a flight from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand for $0.00 and with taxes it came to $23.00. Hard to beat that!

The currency in Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong (VND) and the US Dollar is also widely used since the dong is so worthless. 1 USD is equivalent to about 20,000 VND and there were a few times that the bill was over 1,000,000 VND. Certain things are extremely cheap… like beer. A glass of beer cost $0.20, just as much as a bottle of water. A typical meal in a restaurant (stir fry and rice) would cost me 2 -4 USD. Vietnam is known for french baguettes, good coffee, and pho (a type of noodle soup). Coffee is either served as “white coffee” or “black coffee” and a lot of times it is iced. Black coffee is obviously just black coffee but white coffee is served not with milk but with sweetened condensed milk. Makes for a very sweet and tasty treat.

The traffic in Vietnam is unlike any other place I have been. It’s absolute insanity! Like the rest of Southeast Asia there are many more scooters than there are cars but in Vietnam a lot of bicycles share the road too. In Hanoi, about 7 million people live there and there are about that many scooters on the road! Add to that the absence of traffic lights, nonstop honking of the horns, and you have chaos. Crossing the street is a bit like parting the Red Sea and goes against everything I have every learned. Imagine a nonstop stream of hundreds of scooters, buses, cars, and bikes. You could wait for a break in traffic but you’d be waiting forever since that won’t happen. After following in the tracks of a few locals I discovered that the key to crossing the street and not getting hit is to start walking slowly into oncoming traffic and just keep walking and don’t stop. It’s when you stop that you’ll get hit. It’s very intimidating looking at all the scooters and cars coming at you but as long as you keep walking they will swerve around you.

In the smaller towns traffic is less intimidating and in Hoi An I rented a scooter to explore the outskirts of town. Driving down the road the local people would drive by me and give me a thumbs up. At first I had no idea what was going on but I spoke with one local and she said it’s because they are surprised to see a foreign woman driving a scooter. I guess that doesn’t happen too often.
 The Vietnamese people (and the Thai’s also) worship white skin. In the stores you see plenty of skin care products advertising “whitening” abilities. They see dark skin as a sign of someone who works in the fields and see “white” as a sign of beauty. Since the majority of the people ride scooters or bicycles you will see them covered from head to toe in clothing. It’s common to see them wearing long sleeve shirts, sandals with socks, gloves covering their hands, and almost everyone wears a face mask (even when they are just walking around) to block out some of the pollution.

The Vietnamese covered head to toe

Hill Tribes of Vietnam

Vietnam is notorious for charging tourists outrageous prices compared to what the locals pay.  So when I was leaving for the train station on my way to Sapa in northern Vietnam, the overly friendly and very helpful hotel receptionist offered to have one of her staff flag down a taxi for me, arrange a “local” taxi price, and then follow on his scooter and check me in at the train station.  I almost thought about declining the offer to have him check me into the train (I mean how hard could that be) but in the end decided to let him.  And after seeing all the chaos at the train station I was so happy to have him there, guiding me. 

Alley to Gecko Hanoi Hotel

The train was surprisingly nice and each compartment had 4 beds (2 bunks).  Not at all like the night train I was on in Thailand.  These trains are designed for sleeping only and when the passengers get on at 9pm and leave the train at 6am there is no need for anything more (like seats).

I shared a compartment with an Australian mother and daughter and a local Vietnamese teen.  As soon as the train took off everyone pretty much hit the sack except for the Vietnamese teen.  He continued to talk on his phone for what seemed like hours.  As soon as he would hang up another call would come in.  Teenagers!

On the night train in Thailand I slept like a baby and thought it would be the same on this train.  Not quite.  They had turned the air conditioning up really high and it was freezing.  Then in the middle of the night they must have turned it off since I woke up sweating.  It was so hot and humid in the compartment that the sides of the walls were wet with dew (or whatever you call it).  It did not make for a good night’s sleep.  I guess when it comes to trains, looks can be deceiving.

We arrived to the train station at Lao Cai (which is right at the border with China) around 6am and from there transferred to a minibus for an hour long ride up into the mountains.  As soon as we began our ascent you could feel the temperature change.  In Hanoi the temperature was an unbearable and extremely humid 95 degrees and in Sapa the temperature dropped to a very refreshing 65 degrees.  Talk about a relief!

Cat Cat Village in Sapa

Around eight ethnic groups live in the Lao Cai province.  Most people come to Sapa for several days to trek the stunning mountains and visit the ethnic minority hill tribes but I only had time to spend one day in Sapa before I had to head back to Hanoi on the night train leaving that same night.  I ended up hiring a local guy to take me on a scooter tour of the local villages for a few hours for a cost of $5.00.  Not hard to do since every 2 seconds you are asked if you want a motorbike ride. 

 Local girl carrying her brother in Cat Cat Village, Sapa

The local people in Sapa are relentless.  Most of them in town are from the ethnic tribe the Black Hmong.  You learn quickly not to look them in the eye and to try your hardest to ignore them (as wrong as that seems).  They are out there trying to sell you handicrafts they have made or postcards and no matter how many times you say no they just keep on pressing.  They find you when you are eating in restaurants, walking down the street, typing away in an internet café.  You start to avoid them like the black plague.  If you do happen to make the mistake of glancing their way, they will be your new best friend for the entire time you are in Sapa and refuse to leave your side.  You can easily spot the tourists who have made this mistake as they have a following of about 5-10 Black Hmong.

Black Hmong in Sapa

The scooter driver took me to a few spots but the most notable was the village of Ta Phin.   He dropped me off and I was immediately surrounded by the women and children of the Red Dao Tribe.  

Red Dao hill tribe, Ta Phin village near Sapa

The women offered to show me around their little village and one woman who spoke surprisingly good English invited me in for some tea at her house.  

Kitchen in Red Dao hill tribe house

In exchange for them giving me insight into their daily lives I was more or less expected to look at their handicrafts and buy something.  How could I not!

A Day in Bangkok

I arrived to Bangkok at 6am after a 12 hour journey on the night train.  My flight the next day was very early in the morning so I decided to stay at a hotel close to the airport.  Since the airport is about 45 minutes from downtown Bangkok the hotel suggested that I store my luggage at the “left luggage” area of the train station and explore the city by day and head to the hotel in the evening.   Bangkok has a great underground and above ground rail system so I was excited to explore Bangkok cheaply and happy that I would not have to deal with the hassle of carrying my 2 backpacks around with me. 

I found the luggage storage area in a dirty little corner of the Bangkok Train Station.  It was going to cost me about $2.50 to store my bags for the entire day so I filled out some paperwork, paid the guy, and he attached luggage tags to my bags and took them into the room behind him already stacked with backpacker bags and suitcases. 

I spent most of the day exploring Bangkok and in the evening headed back to the train station to grab my bags and hop into a taxi.  One thing that I have learned about taxi drivers in this region is that most often they have no idea where they are going.  I’ve learned to always make sure to have a phone number for the hotel so that they can call when they get lost.  It’s almost useless to have an address unless it’s in their language since most don’t read English.  Sure enough, the taxi guy thinks he knows where he’s going but ends up getting lost.  I convince him to call the hotel and he goes to call and realizes that his cell phone battery has just died.  We find a payphone, he calls the hotel, and finally after many tries, we find the place.  I do admit this one was a bit tricky.

At the hotel I’m deciding what to bring on my 2-week trip to Vietnam and what I will leave at the hotel (they too have baggage storage for a small fee).  I’d rather not drag around my large backpack since I really don’t need much for Vietnam and I hear that theft is a problem there. 

Vietnam loves the $USD and in fact many things are quoted in both their local currency the “Dong” and the $USD.  I still had $3.00 that came with me when I left the US and thought that I would bring that with me and finally spend it.  I looked high and low for it but could not find it.  The more I thought about it, I was also missing my cell phone and charger.   Then it hit me… the people at the train station’s luggage storage had gone through my bags and taken a few things.  Lesson learned.  Lucky for me I had all my valuables on me except for the cell phone which I still had not used since leaving the US so maybe it wasn’t that valuable to me.  In addition to the $3.00 USD they also took a few bills I had of Malaysian money but left the bill I had of Burma money.  Obviously Burma money is worthless.    

Travels to Bangkok

After 2 months of living on Koh Samui I have finally said goodbye.  Sad to leave the new friends I have made during my month long obsession with yoga but ready to move on.  

My favorite yoga teacher "Mon"

From Koh Samui I needed to get to Bangkok in order to catch my flight to Vietnam.  Since Bangkok is about 450 miles from Koh Samui I could have made it easy and flown (1 hour) but decided that the reason I travel is to have adventures so I opted to take the night train (12 hours).

I had pre-arranged this trip meaning that just like my last venture to the mainland a minibus picked me up from my apartment and dropped me off at the Koh Samui ferry pier.  At the pier I was told to board one of the many waiting greyhound buses.  A bit confused, we drove to another part of Koh Samui and boarded another ferry.  Turned out that the greyhound bus traveled on the ferry as well and then once on the mainland continued on for another hour to drop us off at the train or bus station.

Beach next to ferry pier

Greyhound bus boarding ferry

I knew that I was different than most other passengers on board since I had been given a special sticker to wear on my shirt that said “train” in both English and Thai.  No one else seemed to have this.  After about an hour on the greyhound, the bus helper approached me and since his English was very hard to interpret I assumed he was asking if I was going to the train station.  I showed him my train ticket and he said to get off the bus with these 2 other passengers. 

Left at this random spot alongside the main road we are told to wait.  Unsure of what we were waiting for 10 minutes goes by before a songthaew (a type of Thai taxi) pulls up tells us to hop in the back of his songthaew.   He drives us to some random house and tells us that the bus will leave at 7:30pm and the guy at the house will take us to the station.  I then realized that I was not suppose to get off the greyhound bus and needed to get myself to the train station.  Luckily I still had a few hours until the train left.  I tried to explain my situation to both the songthaew driver and the guy at the house and they both asked to see my ticket.  Since I had no other ticket, I showed them my train ticket.  They took it and explained that they would make sure I got there.  Next thing I know the songthaew guy is driving away with my train ticket (thinking it’s some other kind of ticket he needs in  order to get paid for ride he gave us) and I’m starting to freak out a little because without that ticket I can’t board the train and that ticket was worth about $25 (a lot of money here).

Praise the cell phone!  The other guy calls the songthaew guy on his cell phone and he comes right back, gives me my ticket, and tells me to get into the back of his songthaew.  I’m thinking he’s going to drop me off at the train station but oh no.  He drives until he spots a local bus heading to the train station and flags the bus down.  He motions quickly for me to get out and hop in the bus.  All this happens so quickly that I have no idea what is happening – I just do as I am told.  The only thing that comforts me is that on the front window of the local bus I see the words “Train Station” in English so at least I know where we’re headed. 

The bus (with mirrors and oscillating fans on the ceiling) stops at every little place and being the time worrier that I am, I start to wonder if we’ll make it to the train station in time.  We make it with 30 minutes to spare.  Perfect timing!

Local bus heading to train station

There were several options for seats when it came to booking on the night train.  The cheapest I could have booked was a “hard seat” in a non-air conditioned cabin (meaning it was basically a wooden seat and open windows) and from there the prices went up as you increased the comfort level.  I ended up booking a “soft sleeper” in an air-conditioned cabin (meaning the padded seats folded down into comfortable beds with curtains separating you from the rest of the train).   Most of the passengers were tourists heading up to Bangkok and it was quite easy to sleep most of the 12 hour trip.

Night train to Bangkok

12 more days… and then goodbye Thailand!

My tourist visa expired yesterday and instead of leaving the county once again to get another 15 or 30 days I was under the impression that the Koh Samui Immigration office could grant me an extension of 2 weeks.  The only catch being that you pay them the equivalent of $60 but that’s so much cheaper than having to leave the country and come back.  So late last week I had passport photos taken, made copies of my passport and departure card (all requirements for a visa extension), and headed on my scooter (on the hour long drive) over to the other side of the island to the immigration office.

When I entered the tiny office there were probably 20+ people waiting to get visa extensions.  Every seat in the place was taken.  I filled out the paperwork and when it asked for how long of an extension I would like I put 12 days.  The woman looked at me and said “no”, she was only going to give me a 7 day extension.  She then proceeded to tell me that in addition to the $60 USD fee I would also have to pay the “overstay” fine of $16 USD/day for the remaining 5 days for when my visa would be expired.  I quickly added all this up in my head and realized that paying $140 USD to stay in Thailand for an additional 12 days was completely outrageous and decided that there had to be a better solution. 

Frustrated, I left the immigration office without getting an extension and headed to the nearest travel agency to find out what other options there were.  I  find out there are regularly scheduled “Visa Runs” where a minibus picks you up and drives you to the border with either Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, or Burma.  All of this for $60 USD, the original fee for a visa extension.

Since my visa expired on Monday luckily there was a trip to Burma (aka Myanmar) planned for that day.  A minibus full with tourists picked me up at 5am and headed over to Na Thon on the other side of the island to hop on the ferry crossing over to the mainland.  The ferry was almost the size of a small freighter and is also a very popular way for people to get their cars onto the mainland as there were probably 50 cars onboard.  The ride took 1 ½ hours and once we were on the mainland in Don Sak another minibus was waiting to drive us across Thailand to Burma.  


To get from Don Sak to Ranong, the Thailand city on the border with Burma took us 4 hours in the minibus.  Border town Ranong is a dirty place right along the river and you could tell that the only reason tourists come to this place was to do exactly what I was doing “a visa run”.  I counted at least 100 tourists during the time I was there.

It was a very chaotic and sketchy process with people everywhere and I am so happy that I did this with a group of people and not on my own.  Just to orient you a little, Ranong is on the western side of Thailand and is separated from Burma by a river/bay that flows out to the Andaman Sea. 

Thailand Immigration Office

First we had to wait in line to get an exit stamp from Thailand Immigration.  We were required to pay $10 USD or 500 Thailand Baht (and if you know the exchange rate, by paying in Thai Baht you are actually paying more like $15 – but unfortunately I don’t carry $USD) to some random guy working the docks who I thought was trying to scam us for the boat ride but later found out that $10 USD is what a visa from Burma costs (and why they want you to pay in USD and not Thai Baht).  

Longtail boats waiting to take passengers to Burma

Once everyone had their exit stamps we were herded like cattle onto this small boat that would take us to Kawthoung on the Burma side to get an entry stamp simultaneously with an exit stamp.

  

Typical boat heading to Burma 

Luckily we were on a boat that had a roof but on most boats there is no shade and it’s very common to see passengers with umbrellas, shading themselves from the HOT sun.  There were so many people on our boat (50 maybe) that at times I thought we were going to take on water and must admit that I was a little scared for my life.  But after about 10 minutes we arrived safely on Burma land. 

 Burma from the boat

Getting off the boat and onto the dock we were immediately surrounded by millions of teenage boys asking if we wanted to buy cigarettes and alcohol, among other things.  I guess these goods are not taxed in Burma so it’s cheaper to get them there and bring them back to Thailand.   They were excited to hear that I was from “America” and they told me stories about Michael Jordan being from there.  We then arrived at the Burma Immigration office, which was nothing more than a small room with a desk.  The guy from the boat handed the Burma officials a large stack of our passports and just like an assembly line one guy started stamping all passports while another guy would call each person up to the desk, take your picture, and give you your passport back.  

Burma immigration officials stamping passports

A bit sketchy but I have to admit very efficient since all 50 people were back on the boat within 20 minutes.  Several of the teenage boys were waiting to escort me back to the boat and gave me what they called “a souvenir”, a 20 Burma Kyat bill (equivalent to $3 USD) and asked me to give them “a souvenir” of Thai Baht.  Not sure what the scam was here since that is quite a bit of money for them to be giving out.

 20 Kyats - Burma Money

After all this chaos, we were herded back onto the small boat and head back to Ranong to get our Thailand entry stamp allowing us all to stay a little bit longer in Thailand, before having to do this all over again.  Back on the minibus we headed for Don Sak to catch the ferry leaving at 6pm, it was currently 2pm – with a 4 hour drive ahead of us.  The last 45 minutes of the drive the minibus driver started driving really fast and I knew he was trying to get us to the ferry in time and luckily we arrived with 10 minutes to spare since I think that was the last ferry for the day to Koh Samui.  

Sunset from Ferry